SpecialMade Goods & Services, Inc.
2011 - 2018
SpecialMade Goods and Services, Inc. is a custom solution provider that specializes in decorating and customizing Rubbermaid Commercial Products. They also are a seller of replacement parts for Rubbermaid Commercial Products. While working at SpecialMade, I prepared artwork for printing on products such as BRUTE trash cans, Slim Jim's, food containers, pitchers and more. We used techniques including screen printing, pad printing, hot stamping, heat transfer and vinyl graphics to decorate these products.
I also managed the SpecialMade and Hot Stamp Supply Company websites and marketing material. Below are some samples of work I did at SpecialMade and Hot Stamp.
SpecialMade sells over 3,000 replacement parts for Rubbermaid Commercial Products. I was tasked with redesigning and streamlining the printed catalog to utilize full color photos of the products. Using Adobe InDesign and the InCatalog plugin, the content of the catalog is tied to an Excel spreadsheet with all of the product data. This makes updating the catalog a much easier task than it was in the past. SpecialMade now "private labels" the catalog so other Rubbermaid distributors can offer replacement parts to their customers. Click here for the online Flip Book.
SpecialMade created a product that protects walls from damage when step-on cans are opened and pushed against the wall. The "WallGardian" was a character I came up with to promote this less-than-exciting-product. The product is basically a rubber bumper; not very graphically appealing. By creating a super hero, The Wall Guardian, which was turned into a six foot tall cutout for trade shows, we were able to catch peoples' attention and get them to check out the product. I enjoyed drawing this character and bringing the boring, black runner bumpers to life. I hand drew the superhero, scanned the drawing, turned it into actor artwork in Adobe Illustrator and added color. I also created the WallGardian logo and trademarked the name "WallGardian" for the product.
Above are some samples of printed material that I designed while at SpecialMade. I used a combination of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign to create the artwork. The majority of these pieces I sourced for printing locally or through larger online printing companies.